The Prophet and the Ambassador: Said Efendi's Visit, the Delayed Production of Voltaire's Mahomet, and the Universality of the Law of Nations

In December 1741, as Voltaire was preparing for the performance of Le fanatisme ou Mahomet le prophète at the Comédie-Française, Ottoman ambassador Said Efendi reached Paris. This article focuses on this previously overlooked coincidence through the lens of new scholarship on the Ottoman presence in eighteenth-century Europe in order to demonstrate how the ambassador's stay interfered with the creation and reception of Voltaire's tragedy. By uncovering how the delaying of the performance of Mahomet was framed in the language of the law of nations, it aims more broadly at putting into historical perspective our understanding of the Enlightenment's legacy.